DOLLAR Academy pupils were treated to a rare astronomical event yesterday.
Mercury, the smallest planet of the Solar System, made a rare seven-hour-long pass across the face of the Sun - an event observed by keen skywatchers across the globe.
The Dollar pupils were outside, basking in sunlight under Mr Neil Blezard's supervision, to watch the event, which will not happen again until 2019 and then 2032.
The planet is only 3030 miles in diameter and is 48 million miles away from Earth, meaning it is very hard to see, even with telescopes – from our perspective, it is only 1/150th of the Sun's diameter.
Mr Blezard explained: “Mercury, in fact, could fit into Canada with room to spare.
“You can usually only see Mercury as a small point, just above the horizon, at sunrise or sunset; this is due to its close proximity to the Sun.
“So to see it transit the Sun in its entirety, from the UK, is a very rare event indeed.”
While the smallest planet spins around the Sun every 88 days, its orbit is tilted relative to the Earth's, it is due to this that it is relatively uncommon that the three bodies line up in space.
Viewing the spectacle with the naked or binoculars is impossible and dangerous, astronomers usually use powerful telescopes equipped with filters.
Mr Blezard's setup
In Dollar, the pupils, Mr Blezard and Mr Chris Cairns used the projection method - the telescope is pointed at the object with the resulting image projected onto a screen for a safe viewing.
The image was projected onto a white canvass.
Mr Cairns was also able to use a special solar filter attached to a camera to take some pictures of the transit directly.
The last transit was in 2006, but was not at all visible from the UK and the 2019 event will only be partially visible.
There are other astronomical events worthy of note coming up soon as well. On May 22, Mars will be at opposition, while on June 3 Saturn will do the same.
Some of the pupils gave the "eclipse glasses" a go, but Mercury is too small to be observed by the naked eye.
On both dates, the respective planets will be at their closest approach to Earth with their faces fully illuminated by the Sun, meaning they will be brighter than at any other time of the year and will be visible all night long.
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